PRISTINA, Kosovo - The 649th Contingency Contracting Team (CCT) from Area Support Team-Balkans conducted a meeting with approximately 30 local business representatives Nov. 20 at the American Chamber of Commerce in Prishtina, Kosovo.
Hosted by the American Chamber of Commerce, the meeting served as a venue for CCT personnel to explain to local entrepreneurs the procedure for registering with System Award Management (SAM), the U.S. Government system which requires vendors to register on before applying for a contract.
U.S. Army Capt. Markly Jean-Charles, contracting specialist with 649th CCT, explained that through SAM they are able to screen businesses to make sure they are not on any excluded list.
“It is mandated to us to check the company and make sure it has a registration with SAM. If [they are] not registered, we are not allowed to award the contract,” said Jean-Charles.
Before registering with SAM, companies must obtain a Data Universal Numbering System (DUNS) and NATO Commercial and Government Entity (NCAGE) number, and sync them into SAM.
“When we want to make any contract award, I go to my award writing system and I [enter the DUN and NCAGE] number and the name of the company comes up and it just makes the award process streamlined [and] a lot easier for us,” added Jean-Charles.
“All of our contracts that are over 25,000 dollars are required to be published into [the] Army Single Face to Industry web site and Federal Business Opportunity web site,” continued Jean-Charles. “Any contracts that we have all over the world . . . go into those web sites.”
Dren Berisha, company manager for Mjeshtri, which specializes in maintenance, said that this meeting provided a big opportunity to local companies.
“The presentation done by the U.S. Army team was very helpful,” said Berisha. “Usually when registering with SAM, DUN and CAGE, we always face difficulties. It’s very good they gave us their cell phone numbers in case we face any issues.”
Atlantida Hasani, manager of member services for the American Chamber of Commerce in Kosovo, explained that this event was organized for their members so businesses could get the information they need to possibly establish contracts with U.S. Government entities operating in Kosovo.
“We attended the last meeting they had with local vendors and we saw it as a very good opportunity for our members to get knowledge of registration procedures with SAM,” said Hasani. “They can get a chance to compete for a contract with the U.S. Government.”
Hasani confirmed the business representatives were very happy with the information provided to them and they look forward to future cooperation with the various U.S. government organizations.
“I think today went very good. They were provided with enough information and I hope in the future the businesses will benefit from these contracts,” added Hasani.